Havana, January  7 (RHC)-- Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz congratulated the western province of Artemisa on the tenth anniversary of its creation on January 9.

Derived from the former province of Havana, Artemisa, and its neighbor Mayabeque province,  it was officially established as a new province of Cuba on January 1, 2011.

The province has faced several economic, social, health, and infrastructure challenges in this first decade.

It has a population of more than 508 thousand inhabitants in an area of four thousand square kilometers. It is organized in 11 municipalities. The most important ones are Artemisa, the provincial capital seat, San Antonio de los Baños, and San Cristóbal.